Dapherseed Drabbles
by OctaviaWithStarsForEyes
Summary: Various snapshots of Daphne and Mustardseed's history.
1. Chapter 1

**Oh yes. It's me again, not with Catching Up. But I'm currently struggling, so instead I've created Dapherseed Drabbles. I feel I never see this, but I see a ton of Puckabrina Drabbles, so I'm gonna put them in the spotlight here. Even though I ship M-seed with Daphne** ** _and_** **Red, I like him better with Daphne. So, enjoy!**

 **Disclaimer: Not mine!**

The beautiful brunette woman bounced the bundle easily on her hip as she talked with the faery queen.

"Oh Daphne's lovely. Much easier than Sabrina. Now there was a screamer. Daphne barely cries and won't stop laughing." As if to enforce this statement, a gurgling laugh curved the chubby cheeks of the baby.

"Hi Daphne! Hi Daphers!" Veronica cooed at her baby, and the faery queen chuckled with amusement.

"Mustardseed is still only 783, but looks about 5. We're keeping him that way for a while, he's at his sweetest." Titania said, a rare sort of fondness softening her clipped accent. And as though he had been summoned, a small boy crowned with a halo of blonde curls hurtled in, another boy chasing him.

"Mother! Mother! Puck is chasing me!" Mustardseed whined, ducking away from his older brother's wooden sword.

"Come now, Trickster King. Do not inflict thine wrath upon one of your own." Titania chided Puck, slipping into her old Shakespearean accent. In one instant Veronica could see her, not only as a fellow mother, but an ancient fae legend, centuries old.

Puck slunk out of the room muttering about spoilsports. A frightened Mustardseed peeked out cautiously from behind his mother's skirt and caught sight of the human stranger.

"Who are you?" The younger boy asked, squinting at Veronica, who smiled at him.

"My name is Veronica Grimm, and this is Daphne." The brunette knelt down and showed him the rosy-cheeked angel that was her second-born. Mustardseed frowned and poked Daphne's cheek, who burbled happily at him.

"She's most ugly." He remarked, nose wrinkled, and Titania gasped.

"Mustardseed! Hast thou no manners? Apologise most swiftly, or thou art no son of mine!" The queen snapped, but Veronica just chuckled.

"It's alright, Your Highness. You might be right, little prince. But give her some time and I think she'll surprise you."

Mustardseed arched an eyebrow, clearly doubtful. "Look how round her ears are. And her eyes are so... brown. No human can grow out of such things."

"My eyes are brown and my ears are round. Do you think I'm ugly?" Veronica asked, tilting her head. The fae prince admitted, that no, she was not ugly. "And she is my daughter, so she's probably going to look like me. If she looked like me, would you still say she was ugly?"

Mustardseed reluctantly shook his head. "I suppose she could be beautiful. But she still has round ears, most undesirable." Titania's old English had clearly made a mark on the boy. Veronica had to remind herself that this child was many times her elder, as Mustardseed scowled childishly, but did not look away from the baby.

Well Veronica could change his mind. No one could resist children when holding them

"Would you like to hold her?" Veronica asked, and Titania shot him a look. Mustardseed nodded with a curious expression furrowing his brow. He took the baby with a little grunt, but did not drop her. Veronica helped him sit on a chair with Daphne in his lap, and turned to continue her conversation with the faery queen.

This little human child confused Mustardseed. She was undeniably grotesque, as he had stated earlier. It was obvious from the sheer plainness of her eyes and hair, the rounded tips of her ears, the bluntness of her features layered in baby-fat.

But something about her intrigued him. Her seemingly-boring eyes were so bright, her cheeks so flushed, and somehow she seemed to see no evil. It made him want to protect her from the world. Perhaps those eyes were more molten chocolate than plain-old-brown.

He held out a cautious finger to the baby and inched steadily closer. Her tiny fist closed upon his digit and brought it to her chest, where she held it there. Mustardseed could feel her tiny heart beating steadily, and he was struck by her complete and total mortality. Dimples and starry eyes looked back at him, and his frown softened into something like wonder.

"Well, would you look at that." Veronica muttered in a low voice, and Titania watched the two children, albeit in slight disapproval.

It was clear in his careful touch that dwindled on Daphne's tuft of hair, in the way his eyes shone down on the infant, that Mustardseed had changed his mind about the ugly human baby.

 **Was that cute? I thought it was. Trump did win the presidential election, so I needed a day-brightener. I do happen to dwell in America so this is a big thing for me. Sorry if any of you are Trump supporters. Anyway, I know some of you are diehard Daphnnochio shippers, but maybe this changed your mind? Also, if you like... *shoots my best winning smile at you, but it just looks like I'm on the verge of puking* Nevermind, just- review? Please? -Octavia**


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: Hello, lovely people! I have to be honest, I'm not completely happy with this chapter, but I'm pretty satisfied with how I pulled it off. Daphne may seem a bit mature, but I did my best. Read on, my pretties!**

Just this once, Mustardseed deigned to dust off the edge of the harbour and place his royal behind upon it. He folded his legs in, wrapped his arms around them, and rested his chin on his knees. It wasn't the most dignified of positions, mainly reserved for bored school children, but he needed to think, and everyone deserved a little slack when they have lost someone.

His father. That was who he had lost, and couldn't figure out how he felt about it. His relationship with his father had been estranged, but not nearly as bad as Puck's. The constant pressure being put upon him, the constant urging to be better, stronger, faster, smarter, the constant dissatisfaction. It hooked him under his skin, yanked him forward. He would show Oberon, he would show his kingdom he could be _that good_. He could be the ideal prince, strong enough to run a country, patient enough to deal with his mother, wise enough to do what was best for himself and everyone.

And now, here he was on the edge of a boardwalk looking dramatically into the horizon, while the salty breeze stirred his hair, and he tried not to gag on the omnipresent stench of sea life permeating the air. Just like the human movies.

His train of thought was cut off, as he heard a set of quiet footsteps behind him, and every muscle in his body tensed. He pretended to look a bit to the left as if the cargo had caught his eye, but checked who was coming in his peripheral vision. It was the Grimm girl. Daphne. The name stirred a memory of shining eyes and chubby cheeks, so when she sat down next to him, all skinny ankles and tight braids, he had to blink a couple times.

"Hello Daphne. How are you?" After all, his rigorous upbringing would not fail him, even now. Manners were everything in a court full of pompous, easily-offended nobility.

"I'm sorry."

That was to be expected. The phrase had been sent to him with kind pats, awkward hugs, and distant letters.

"For what? You have done nothing." His reply was a carefully calculated statement meant to ease her conscience.

"Yeah, I know. But I also know how it feels to lose people."

"I suppose that must be your parents? Your mother was an excellent woman. My condolences."

"My parents aren't dead. They're just missing, and we're going to find them." The little girl set her jaw stubbornly, but after a minute, relaxed. "And I guess I was kind of talking about my parents."

The hesitation of her reply piqued his curiosity. "Who else?"

"What?" She wasn't very good at playing dumb.

"Who else have you lost?" Mustardseed asked gently, and she looked down.

"I dunno. I mean, I do know, but-"

"You do not wish to share. That is alright." He was used to being treated as a child. Nobody ever took him seriously unless he brought his father into it.

"No, no, it's just- I don't know if you'll understand." Daphne rubbed the heel of her hand absently.

"It is fine, Daphne. We can talk about something else, if you like. How does your sister fare?" He asked, genuinely curious.

"She's hugging it out with Puck on the beach, I think. Or something like that."

A laugh escaped the faery prince, catching even him by surprise. Brown eyes stared at him as he chuckled, until she started to laugh as well. Perhaps it was the weight each had placed on their shoulders, but the two shook with mirth on the end of the dock.

"Y-you know they're in love with each other, right?" Daphne snorted, wiping a tear from her eyes.

"Are they really?" Mustardseed grinned, imagining it.

"Totally. Puck's always pranking her for attention, and it drives Sabrina crazy! But like, they are so much in love with each other."

"Hm. He did pick her as his protector when he was in the healing cocoon." Mustardseed mused, making a note to tease Puck about it later.

There was a pause.

"It was lots of people." Daphne's voice had become subdued so abruptly, he turned to look at her, and her face was creased with sadness.

"What?" He was better at playing dumb.

"Don't pretend." Or not.

"Who specifically, did you lose?" Mustardseed asked, as kindly as possible. Her shoulders were caving in as she looked at the dimpled surface of the water underneath them.

"My sister. She doesn't think I can do anything by myself. She doesn't trust me, she treats me like a kid, and she's being really mean. We'd always had each other in the orphanage, and then once we discovered our real family... It just feels like I'm losing her." Daphne's eyes became glassy.

"And then, I thought I was gonna lose Puck, and then before that, I thought we had lost Mr. Canis, and then I thought I had lost Granny when we were sent back to the orphanage, and-" Whatever Daphne had been trying to say, never was spoken, as her words collapsed into desperately suppressed tears.

"I understand." Mustardseed placed a slightly awkward hand on her shaking shoulders, praying that she would stop crying. He never did know what to do when someone started to cry.

"No- It's fine, just-" She took a deep breath. "Sorry about that."

Mustardseed smiled, and shrugged. "It is a lot for a human of only seven. Despite how much Sabrina has tried to protect you, everyone has a breaking point."

"What's yours?" Daphne asked curiously.

The prince froze and then came to his senses, pasting on a plastic smile. "I don't know, I don't think I've reached it yet."

Daphne narrowed her eyes, studying the tightness at the corners of Mustardseed's mouth and the tenseness in his neck.

"I don't believe you." She decided, and he pressed his lips together.

"You don't-"

"I think it's when Puck was exiled."

The faery stared at this perceptive, lucky little human, who blinked innocently back at him.

"How did you know?" Mustardseed whispered, willing his voice not to crack, as memories flooded his mind.

The darkness of those days had been unmentionable, times when he had frequently played with the ideas of sending out fruitless search parties, or alternatively, ending his life. So much responsibility had been placed upon his shoulders, and everyone expected him to be able to handle it, just as Atlas could hold up the sky.

"Because I think everyone's breaking point is when they lose the person they love the most." Daphne said softly, and Mustardseed took a minute to look her over again.

"I think I might have underestimated you." He noted, and the brunette smiled weakly.

"Daphne!" It was her grandmother, Relda, the prince remembered.

"That's my cue." The little girl stood up and brushed the seat of her pants off.

"Goodbye Daphne. Be safe, and take care of my brother." Mustardseed waved.

She stopped and looked him. "Puck's gonna stay and rule Faery though, right?"

"I think we both know the answer to that." Mustardseed shot her a parting wink, and turned back to the water. It took her a second, but Daphne grinned, and skipped back to her waiting grandmother.

 _It looks as though you were right, Veronica. She is surprising me._ Mustardseed allowed a faint smile to tug at his lips.

 **I rather have a flair for dramatic endings, don't I? Review please!**


End file.
